Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Ghana Independence Day

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Ghana Independence Day

Today Ghana celebrates its 51st Independence day. In 1957 Ghana was the first black African country to become independent. On that day in her message the Queen of England had this to say, "The hopes of many, especially in Africa, hang on your endeavours. It is my earnest and confident belief that my people in Ghana will go forward in freedom and justice."

Dr Kwame Nkrumah was the first Prime Minister of independent Ghana. In 1960, Nkrumah declared Ghana a republic and himself president for life in 1964. He was deposed in 1966 by a military coup while on a trip to Peking. He later died in exile in Romania in 1972.
There followed a period of unstable government with one coup after another, culminating in 1992 in a referendum on a multiparty system. Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, who had already led two coups against the government, was elected president.
His supporters credit him with stabilising a turbulent political scene and leaving a legacy of democracy.
He retired in 2000 and President John Kufuor was elected. (Information taken from the BBC website)

Today, as we greet the people of Ghana we also keep them in our prayers. We pray for continuing peace in the country and we pray for its leaders that they may uphold the ideals of peace, freedom and justice. This is an election year too where the country will elect a new President. We pray that the lead up to and the elections themselves go peacefully and that all parties accept the mandate of the people.

Though the country has achieved much, much still remains to be done. Here in the Northern region making drinking water available and readily accesible to all should be a priority. It is a common sight here in Tamale to see hordes of people everyday either walking, on bicycles or motorbikes carrying 20 litre yellow containers as they go in search of water. A resource that so many take for granted.

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What do we want this novitiate to be?

There is a saying that goes something like this: “If we don’t do what we believe in, then we’ll end up believing in what we do”. Without a vision that is authentic and alive to guide our actions, then we can settle for rationalizing the status quo or what is convenient and comfortable.
One of the first things the new team in Tamale did was to spend time beginning to articulate its vision of a novitiate beyond the basics laid down in our Constitutions. Here are some elements of what we came up with:
Novitiate is a journey, a process that involves KNOWING, EXPERIENCING and CHOOSING.
It is an INITIATION into Christian Brother religious life, so a “rite of passage” into a new identity, a time of learning and testing.
Novitiate confronts the novices with the Brother’s vocation as a call to brotherly solidarity and community, not to privilege, status and security.
It involves exploration of the basic values of faith and vocation, and the challenge to embrace these out of personal conviction and free choice.
Novitiate means understanding that a religious vocation makes a claim on the whole of the person and his life, including his inner life, his relationships and his professional activity (ministry). Furthermore, it challenges the novice to see the dynamic inter-relationship of these areas and to learn what their integration means.
Novitiate is a time of DISCERNMENT. The novice learns more deeply who he is, and what this Christian Brother life is. There is a constant back-and-forth movement between these two poles as an answer is sought to the question, “Is this where I am meant to be? Is this the life that will enable me to find my true self in God?”